This brief article describes how classroom group time can be "talk central" for children to discuss problems, imagine solutions, even role-play hypothetical situations. It is often in the safety and support of the large group that children develop the tools they need to learn how to resolve the inevitable conflicts that arise throughout life.…

Since 1998, I've been experimenting with the use of role-playing games to teach astronomy. Students play the role of competing teams of researchers, racing to solve some astrophysical mystery. In this article, I review what has been learned from using these games around the world over the last eight years. The most common problem encountered is a…

The social work education literature contains limited discussion of the use of role play in the classroom. This article discusses the logistics of recruiting and utilizing professionally-trained actors to simulate clients in social work role plays. Promising results from assessments of BSW and MSW students with actor-simulated clients are…

How can teachers get today's students--and tomorrow's voters--really interested in the presidential election? At Moorestown Friends School, a coed Quaker preK-12 day school in Moorestown, New Jersey, the students participate in a simulated presidential selection process that leaves them energized and informed about the candidates and the issues.…

This article previews the emergence of "homo virtualis." Drawing on data from seven research studies, peer-reviewed published research articles, and selected excerpts of 30 months of field notes taken in Second Life [SL], the article examines virtual learning environments and embodiment through the lens of interactions of avatars with…

Small-group training consisting of feedback and self-management was effective in improving question-asking skills during tutorial conversations in nine high-functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. Training was implemented in a therapy room and lasted 6 weeks. Sessions were conducted once a week and lasted about an hour.…

Research Findings: The study evaluated the "safe kindergarten" program designed to promote kindergartners' communication and social skills based on principles of Imago marital and family counseling (H. Hendrix, 1990). Participants were 92 kindergartners from 4 kindergartens (intervention = 46; comparison = 46). Teachers in intervention…

Female prisoners in recovery may anticipate defeat when projecting possibilities for their future hopes and dreams. These clients often identify with and attach to the role of prisoner and addict. This article describes a 12-week group treatment program, titled by the author as "Prayerformance." In this work, female prisoners in recovery have an…

Researcher Patricia Seed has noted the difficulty undergraduates have in understanding concepts of other cultures. Differences in vocabulary sometimes underscore differences in culture. Seed has suggested that cross- or multi-cultural education cannot proceed from a position of ignorance or arrogance. It is possible to move from cultural…

When students are passive and disinterested, teachers find that role playing fosters active participation and increased interest in learning. The article outlines procedures for implementing both structured and semi-structured kinds of role play activity for use in social studies classrooms. (Author/JR)

Elementary students role-playing people celebrating various holiday seasons of different cultures can learn social science concepts. (JR)

Three subjects were used in a role playing study based on the subject's own Rorschach responses. The results proved to be valuable as an aspect of therapeutic involvement. Results also help to expand and clarify the psychological meaning of Rorschach images. (Author/DEP)

Explores non-scripted role playing, dialogue role playing, sociodrama, and skits as variations of simulation techniques. Provides step-by-step guidelines for conducting such sessions. Successful Meetings, Bill Communications, Inc., 1422 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19102. Subscription Rates: yearly (US, Canada, Mexico) $14.00; elsewhere,…

Provides support for the theory that performance of a scripted play or monologue significantly affects the performers' attitudes. (MH)